Mars makes scientists feel at home

Euronews

Parts of Mars look just like earth. The conclusion of NASA scientists after viewing initial images sent back from Curiosity.

The first photos are wide shots of the Gale Crater where the rover landed on Sunday night.

NASA officials say everything is still going to plan and that all of Curiosity’s instruments are in good working order.

“With Curiosity we landed somewhere that actually looks very Mars-like, but it also looks Earth-like with those mountains in the background there, these deeply dissected pyramidal mountain ranges, and it just looks a lot like what you see out in the Mojave Desert, it’s really cool, and so it kind of makes you feel at home,” said project scientist John Grotzinger.

Scientists have always thought that Mars is the most similar planet to Earth and that it supports, or has supported, key ingredients for organic life.

They hope this 2.5 billion euro project will provide them with the evidence to confirm that theory.